Maintenance & Technical > KX500 Aluminum Frame Conversion (AFC)

kx500af frame lower bar cracked!

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kxpegger:
Wanted to see the head stay which is the mount that goes from the top of the engine cylinder head to the frame. Besides the lower rear engine mount at the swing arm this is the mount that also supplies a substantial amount of the vertical axis load management. The engine cradle mounts mostly assist with side to side movement at the lower center of gravity but do accept some vertical load. The main players are the head stay and swing arm mount. If the head stay design is not correct it allows to much load to be placed on the engine cradle. Once I see a picture of your head stay I'll know if there's a problem. Part of the mount in this picture of my AF is welded to the frame. Then there are two bolts from the rear engine bracket to the frame mount and a single bolt on the engine bracket to the head. This creates a triangulated mount that cannot allow the engine to move up and down unless the weld fails or a bolt snaps. Service Honda really over engineered this area and it is unlikely it will ever fail.   


 

kyser777:
here you are





by the way, for the welding fix,  flat bar and 90 degree angle bar of 6061 is the way to go?



thanks

kxpegger:
Head stay design triangulated looks good. Brackets are to thin and the lightening holes in the brackets further reduce strength. I think this is allowing the engine to slightly twist under load putting to much stress on the cradle. Need to go with beefier brackets and maybe some gusseting or reinforcements in the gap between the the two brackets. More is better!

kyser777:
the welding is finished, I gusseted as well to get the maximum of strength.
I agree for the head stay reinforcement suggestion, need to make stronger attachment to keep in place the engine and support the maximum of engine weight.

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